Zubat Line/GSC
Zubat can be found on Routes 3, 4, 32, 33, and 42, only at night. It can also be found in Dark Cave, Union Cave, Slowpoke Well, Ilex Forest, Burned Tower, Mt. Mortar, Whirl Islands, Ice Path, Tohjo Falls, and Rock Tunnel, at all times of the day. This applies to all three games. In Crystal, it can also be found on Routes 9, 10, 30 and 31, once again only at night. Golbat can also be found in most of the caves, but none of the Routes, and is also available in Mt. Silver in Crystal. NANANANANANANANA BATMOOON! Ever since Crobat became a thing, the often overlooked (and hated) Zubat line gained a preposterous number of fans. Save for the Kanto games, Crobat is available almost everywhere, often from pretty early on; getting it to actual Crobat status may be difficult, since Zubat evolves relatively late and has a terrible starting movepool, though from Golbat status it usually only takes one more level for it to become fully evolved. Overall, Crobat is solid and reliable, and blessed - at least in Johto - by an environment that is far from ripe with enemies that sport STAB attacks that are strong against it, even in the early game; this greatly boosts the survivability of this line. It being a friendship evolution means it will also happen very early with nuzlocke rules, as there is absolutely nothing that could possibly lower Zubat's happiness (except bitter herbal medicines, and even being strapped for cash is not a good reason to use them). Unfortunately, in its debut generation, Crobat suffers from a severely shallow movepool which will become burdensome towards the late game, and generally underwhelming to have. Crobat's best trick is Toxic stall games, and it cannot even do that until after beating the Champion. Still, as an early-to-middle-game Pokémon, the bat is definitely a great option which remains viable even in the long run, although not as amazing as it may be in its better generations. Important Matchups Johto * Gym #1 - Falkner (Violet City, Flying-type): Zubat finds itself at a disadvantage against Pidgey, and Pidgeotto even more so. With its only weapons being the very weak (and resisted) Leech Life and the unreliable Supersonic, it is unlikely Zubat will manage to defeat anything but just Pidgey, unless it already knows Bite; in that case, it may be able to outspeed Pidgeotto - on account of being higher-levelled - and flinchhax it to death. * Gym #2 - Bugsy (Azalea Town, Bug-type): Kakuna and Metapod are an easy job for Zubat's Bite. Zubat can also put in some work against Scyther; its Supersonic, however unreliable, may occasionally break Fury Cutter streaks and prevent them from becoming too powerful; however, even with Quick Attack alone, Scyther averagely 4-5HKOs and also knows Leer, which it can use to quickly reduce the amount of turns needed to beat Zubat. Overall, Zubat may start off fighting Scyther until its health is high enough to make the battle sustainable, but there should be a ready backup in case Zubat fails to handle it. * Rival (Azalea Town): A Zubat with Bite defeats Gastly easily, usually 2HKOing it; it will also outdamage the rival's Zubat, as its level is likely to be higher, though the enemy Zubat may still use Supersonic to annoy your own. Bayleef's only offensive move is Razor Leaf and its PoisonPowder has no effect on Zubat, so no problems there, though both Quilava and Croconaw will severely outdamage Zubat with their respective STAB moves. * Gym #3 - Whitney (Goldenrod City, Normal-type): Zubat is not ideal to fight in this gym. Its Bite takes several hits to beat Clefairy, thereby giving it room to use Metronome and potentially select a dangerous move, like Selfdestruct or Explosion; Miltank, on the other hand, deals about a third of Zubat's health with the first Rollout, meaning it can kill from the third stage onwards. Golbat fares better against Clefairy, and has good chances of beating it before too many Metronome turns with Confuse Ray and Bite combined; it remains underpowered against Miltank, however, and should at best use Confuse Ray once before withdrawing, to help its teammates avoid a stage 4 or 5 Rollout. * Rival (Burned Tower): Golbat's Bite will averagely 3HKO Haunter, long before its Mean Look and Curse combination becomes a problem. Zubat is also easy to defeat, even more so if Golbat knows Return, which has a significantly better damage output than Bite. Magnemite outdamages by far with ThunderShock and SonicBoom, but can be potentially overcome with Confuse Ray and either Return spam or Bite flinchhax. Bayleef only has Razor Leaf and can barely damage Golbat; Quilava and Croconaw are doable although with patience, as even Bite is stronger than their STAB moves, but Golbat will struggle to beat them without Return, unless Confuse Ray once again does a good job. * Gym #4 - Morty (Ecruteak City, Ghost-type): It is highly recommended to have a Crobat before entering this gym. Crobat's Bite 2HKOs Gastly and averagely 3HKOs both of the Haunter; the damage output is sufficient for them to be incapable to use Mean Look and Curse and maintain the curse-block throughout the battle. However, as both the second (stronger) Haunter and Gengar have Mean Look but not Curse, it is still advised to switch Crobat out in case a Curse is still laid upon it, before proceeding with the fight. This is especially important against Gengar, which takes time to wear down with Bite. Awakenings or Full Heals are also necessary in remarkable amounts, as Gengar's only offensive moves are Shadow Ball and Dream Eater; while the former is weaker than Crobat's Bite, the latter is devastating, thus Crobat should be kept awake at all times against Gengar. * Eusine (Cianwood City, Crystal only): Crobat can get past Drowzee in two to three hits with a combination of Return and Bite, which easily bypasses its Disable; although Drowzee knows both Hypnosis and Dream Eater, it is unlikely it will be able to use them enough times to become a threat to Crobat. Haunter is 2-3HKOed by Bite. Electrode knows Thunder, avoid. * Gym #5 - Chuck (Cianwood City, Fighting-type): Wing Attack averagely 2HKOs Primeape and 3HKOs Poliwrath. Enjoy the sweep. * Gym #6 - Jasmine (Olivine City, Steel-type): The two Magnemite sport STAB Thunderbolt, which is too powerful for Crobat to take; although merely a 2HKO, Crobat's moves are weak against the Magnemite and it cannot prevail. Same against Steelix, due to its monster Defense, even though Iron Tail is "only" a 3HKO. * Rocket Executive battle #1 (Team Rocket HQ): Crobat is likely to be close to level 30 or higher at this point, and if that is indeed the case, the battle will not be difficult. Return or Wing Attack dispose of all three Pokémon in three hits at most, and even Koffing's Selfdestruct deals less than half of Crobat's total health in damage. * Rocket Executive battle #2 (Team Rocket HQ): Another riskless battle for Crobat. Wing Attack or Return will 2-3HKO all of the Executive's Pokémon, whose moves deal little damage. * Gym #7 - Pryce (Mahogany Town, Ice-type): Crobat's Return or Fly is a 3-4HKO against Seel, which deals relatively little damage with Aurora Beam, due to not being supported by STAB; if Crobat's Attack drops, however, the matchup will become more difficult. Dewgong's Aurora Beam is significantly stronger in comparison, netting a close 3HKO; Crobat may be able to overcome it with Confuse Ray spam, but leaving the battle up to chance is dangerous when Crobat's health is low, as a confusion break or a Fly miss may off it. Piloswine's Blizzard is a net 2HKO that Crobat finds unsurmountable, and it should be avoided altogether. * Rocket Executive battle #3 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Although Crobat may be able to beat one Koffing or two, their Selfdestruct inflicts about half of Crobat's health in damage, and Crobat's moves will averagely not 2HKO but 3HKO instead, leaving the Koffing just in Selfdestruct range. A critical Selfdestruct will kill Crobat, as well, and Weezing's Explosion comes close to killing in one blow even without a critical hit, depending on Crobat's level and Defense stat. Overall, Crobat should preferably not participate in this battle at all. * Rival (Goldenrod Underground): Golbat, Haunter and Sneasel are all no problem for Crobat; Fly beats them all in two to three hits. Return can 4HKO Magnemite, which does not have any Electric STAB, but its Thunder Wave and Supersonic combination is annoying, and better left to a Pokémon that can off it more easily, if available. Meganium is 2HKOed by Fly, Quilava is 2-3HKOed, and Feraligatr requires four hits, but cannot do much to Crobat short of flinchhaxing with Scary Face and Bite, a combination that is unlikely to work in the long term. * Rocket Executive battle #4 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Fly accomplishes a slew of 2-3HKOs all across the board once again. * Rocket Executive battle #5 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Fly is a 2HKO against Houndour, 2-3HKO against Koffing and 3HKO against Houndoom. Houndoom can 4HKO back, so keep Crobat healed as needed, if it must solo this fight. * Suicune (Bell Tower, Crystal only): Rain Dance-boosted BubbleBeam can KO Crobat in three hits. Crobat's moves deal a significantly lesser amount of damage, but it may be able to overcome Suicune by playing smart, with a combination of Confuse Ray and Fly; if Suicune hits itself in confusion often enough, and/or Crobat is kept healed, it will win in the long run. * Gym #8 - Clair (Blackthorn City, Dragon-type): All three of the Dragonair know Thunder Wave, which cripples Crobat. It should be able to win against the lead, whose strongest move is Surf; Fly and Return both averagely 3HKO Dragonair, and Return is better if Crobat is paralysed, since Fly is highly unlikely to complete its execution in that case. The other two Dragonair know Thunderbolt and Ice Beam respectively; although Fly is stronger than said moves, paralysis will be a problem, and Crobat will struggle to win. Crobat should only ever come close to Kingdra if its plan is to alternate Confuse Ray and Fly, because its Surf and Hyper Beam are both average 3HKOs and the damage Crobat deals in return will only suffice with the helping of confusion recoil. * Rival (Victory Road): Sneasel, Golbat, Haunter and Kadabra can all be KOed in two to three turns; Kadabra cannot 2HKO Crobat, even with Psybeam, though Crobat must watch out for Future Sight and Psybeam stacking up if damaged, although Future Sight will deal regular damage due to its effective typing being neutral, instead of super effective. The now-evolved Magneton is too strong for Crobat, which can only hope to confuse it before switching out. Crobat still defeats Meganium easily, and can KO Feraligatr with Fly over a span of several turns, with the help of Confuse Ray; Fly also outdamages Typhlosion's Flame Wheel, so Crobat can win relatively easily unless it gets burned. * Elite Four Will (Indigo Plateau, Psychic-type): Even a Crobat that far outlevels Will's Pokémon is at odds with them. The first Xatu matches up with Crobat's Fly with its Psychic, and unlike Psychic, Fly can miss; a single miss would mean the end for Crobat, and Will's other Pokémon are simply too powerful. Even Exeggutor, weak to Flying, can put up Reflect while Crobat is in the air and then beat it with two Psychics. Crobat should preferably not be used here at all. * Elite Four Koga (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): Fly 1-2HKOs both Ariados and Venomoth. Crobat can also beat Koga's Crobat, but will require patience doing so, as it is known for its Double Team spam; Confuse Ray should help Crobat deal more damage before the evasion boosts become troublesome. Alternatively, an X Accuracy may be used, which will render any evasion or accuracy modifier useless. Muk can use both Minimize and Acid Armor, and is thus doubly annoying, but Crobat can once again work it out with Confuse Ray and Fly, especially since Muk's only damaging move is Sludge Bomb. Switch out against Forretress; it knows Explosion, and can near-kill Crobat with one shot. * Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): Fly OHKOs Hitmonlee, 2HKOs Hitmonchan and Hitmontop, and averagely 2HKOs Machamp (3HKO in the worst case scenario). The Hitmons have little to fight Crobat back with; even Hitmonchan's Ice Punch and ThunderPunch are laughable, running off a very poor Special Attack stat. Machamp's Rock Slide is a 3HKO instead, but it will only become a problem if Fly misses often. Crobat can also win against Onix by using Confuse Ray and Bite, as Bite itself is more powerful than Onix's Rock Slide. * Elite Four Karen (Indigo Plateau, Dark-type): Vileplume and Murkrow are 2HKOed by Fly. Umbreon is 3-4HKOed, but its only real "threat" is Sand-Attack spam; Crobat can get past it with an X Accuracy, as well as simply switching out. Gengar is a 3HKO on average, as well, though its Destiny Bond may get in Crobat's way; in that case, Confuse Ray will help, or even Bite flinching. Crobat's Fly and Houndoom's Flamethrower are both averagely 3HKOs, so Crobat will win if Fly never misses, but must be wary of the possibility when its health is low. * Champion Lance (Indigo Plateau, Flying-type): Crobat may attempt to beat Gyarados, which it may manage with Fly if the move never misses; Gyarados needs either Hyper Beam or a Rain Dance-boosted Surf to beat Crobat's damage output, and both of these require an additional turn, to recharge or set up respectively. Charizard 3-4HKOs with Flamethrower naturally, and Crobat 4HKOs; fighting it is risky, unless Crobat is kept healed whenever needed. Aerodactyl outpowers Crobat with Rock Slide, and so do the Dragonite; the level 47 ones each have one of Thunder or Blizzard, and all three of them also have Hyper Beam, better than any of Crobat's moves by a far cry. Kanto From this point onwards, you can fight the gyms in any order, though you will need to retrieve the Machine Parts from the Cerulean City gym before you have access to the earlier portion of Kanto. Feel free to anticipate or postpone any battles as needed. * Gym #9 - Brock (Pewter City, Rock-type): Without Giga Drain, this matchup is impossible for Crobat. With Giga Drain, it becomes very easy: Graveler, Rhyhorn and Onix are OHKOed, Omastar and Kabutops are 2HKOed. However, neither Omastar nor Kabutops know Rock moves, so Crobat will not take much damage. * Rival (Mt. Moon, optional): Sneasel, Golbat, Gengar and Alakazam are all anywhere from 2HKOed to 3HKOed with Fly. The first three are relatively weak, but Alakazam is dangerous: if Crobat fails to two-shot it, whether due to a Fly miss or other factors, Alakazam will 2HKO back with Psychic; this also means critical hits are a risk. Bothering against Magneton is not worth it, it will outdamage Crobat by far. All of the starters are also beaten by the bat, in a variable amount of turns; if Crobat already knows Giga Drain, it is the most effective weapon to use against Feraligatr. * Gym #10 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): Crobat has an easy time against Golduck and Quagsire, particularly if it knows Giga Drain; even Golduck's Psychic is only a 3HKO. With the help of Confuse Ray, Crobat can reduce enemy damage and fight both of them, potentially without healing. It must, however, avoid Lapras and Starmie, due to their respective Ice coverage moves, Blizzard and Ice Beam. * Gym #11 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): Raichu, Magneton and Electabuzz all massively outpower Crobat. The two Electrode know no STAB moves, so they can be 2-3HKOed with Return, unless they use Screech beforehand; with a single Screech, their Explosion becomes an OHKO against Crobat. * Gym #12 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): Having nothing but Grass coverage, except Victreebel's Acid, this gym is a breeze for Crobat, which scores a series of 2HKOs with Fly. * Gym #13 - Janine (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): Ariados and Venomoth get wrecked by Fly, which 3HKOs Janine's Crobat and the two Weezing as well. Weezing's Explosion deals up to about 70% to Crobat, however, if its level is in the early 50s; while it may be able to take one bomb move, it will not take two unless healed, and critical hits can happen in between. * Gym #14 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): All of Sabrina's Pokémon 2HKO Crobat with Psychic. Crobat should not enter this gym at all. * Gym #15 - Blaine (Seafoam Islands, Fire-type): Crobat should not fight Magcargo, as it would become Curse fodder and then get destroyed by Rock Slide. It can, instead, 3HKO Magmar with Fly. Rapidash is only a 4HKO if Crobat is in the early 50s, and it will also 3HKO with Fire Blast; in order to win against Rapidash, Crobat needs to be several levels ahead of it (55 or above). * Gym #16 - Blue (Viridian City): Crobat beats Pidgeot without a problem, but should preferably resort to Wing Attack if available, because both Return and Fly will give Pidgeot an advantage if it uses Mirror Move; Exeggutor can be 3HKOed with Fly. Rhydon is only 2HKOed by Giga Drain; although Crobat can take a Rock Slide, it will need to be close to full health to do so safely. Avoid Alakazam, whose Reflect and Psychic combination easily gets the best of Crobat, as well as Gyarados, which can 2HKO with Hydro Pump after setting up Rain Dance. Arcanine's Flamethrower is also fairly stronger than Crobat's Fly, though it can be beaten with heal-stalling, providing Crobat's health is never left low enough that it can be offed by ExtremeSpeed. * Rival (Indigo Plateau, optional): Sneasel and Gengar are still 2-3HKOed by Fly. Magneton should still be avoided, as it is simply stronger than Crobat and now also knows Thunder. The rival's Crobat has Wing Attack as its most powerful move, so any Crobat with Fly will win over it; even better to start the fight with Confuse Ray, as the rival's Crobat also knows the move. Alakazam is a no-go: it knows Reflect, and it may use it while Crobat is up in the air, effectively halving its damage output before being hit. Meganium remains easy to beat with Fly, which also outdamages Typhlosion's Flame Wheel, though Feraligatr will now outdamage Crobat with a combination of Rain Dance and Surf; while Giga Drain can compensate for the extra Surf damage without the rain, it cannot do so if Rain Dance is used. * Red (Mt. Silver): Crobat's Return may initially be on par with Pikachu's Thunderbolt in terms of damage, but one Charm will quickly render Crobat powerless; Espeon will also get the best of Crobat with Reflect and Psychic. Snorlax can be worn out only with plenty of healing items, else its Rest and Snore will eventually get the best of Crobat, paired with Body Slam when awake; Crobat's Confuse Ray, however, can help with preventing Rest usage. Venusaur is 2-3HKOed by Fly; Charizard's Flamethrower is a 3-4HKO against Crobat's average 4HKO, but once again, turns Charizard spends hitting itself in confusion may turn the matchup in Crobat's favour. Blastoise knows Blizzard, Crobat should not fight against it. Moves Zubat's initial movepool is... Leech Life and, surprise surprise, that is it. It learns Supersonic at level 6, not an excellent move, but one that does help Zubat deal actual damage. At level 12, it finally gets a decent offensive move in the form of Bite; then, at 19, it obtains a much needed upgrade to Supersonic, Confuse Ray. This is actually a good move, as with Crobat's Speed, it helps greatly with avoiding attacks and goes fantastically with any potential teammate that knows moves that can paralyse or put the enemy to sleep. After evolving into Golbat, it is advised to go Crobat as soon as possible, as both Golbat and Crobat learn the exact same moves at the exact same levels: Wing Attack at 30, not bad although it will get outclassed by Fly shortly afterwards, then the relatively useless Mean Look at 42 - only really good for getting a hold of the roaming legendaries - and Haze at 55. Sadly, the already fairly barren movepool of this line does not get much better with TMs. There's Fly, which is the only upgrade it can get to any sort of move it learns by level, and not by a far cry. Steel Wing may work for "coverage", but the Steel-type is a very unfortunate one to use offensively, and Crobat should not be fighting Rock- or Ice-types either way. On the special side, it can learn Giga Drain, which is actually not so bad and probably better than Steel Wing to actually deal damage to Rock-types (still not advised, although it is a great move to use against dual Rock/Ground Pokémon). Return is actually its highest base power move available right after Fly. For stall players, Toxic is a welcome addition to Confuse Ray. Recommended moveset: Confuse Ray, Fly, Return, Bite / Giga Drain Recommended Teammates * Ground-types: The only possible way to counter the few Electric-types of the Johto games are Ground-types. While not entirely necessary in the main adventure, they become useful against the stray Thunderbolts of the late game, as well as Lt. Surge's team, which is merciless to Crobat. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Golem, Sandslash, Steelix, Piloswine, Donphan, Rhydon * Water-types: Despite the overlapping Electric weakness, Water-types are very necessary to complement Crobat, due to its hatred for Rock and Ice. Therefore, it is advised the resident Water-type be picked accordingly to its relevant resistances; pure Water-types, for example, cover this role very well. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Feraligatr, Politoed, Slowbro, Slowking, Golduck, Starmie (Crystal only), Lanturn, Dewgong, Vaporeon (Crystal only), Kingdra * Dark- or Steel-types: Psychic-types are well covered by Dark or Steel, though both are not commonly seen in Johto, except the guaranteed Eevee that can be turned into Umbreon. Crobat will scarcely be able to face a Psychic-type under any circumstance, so support is needed against them. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Steelix, Forretress, Scizor, Umbreon, Skarmory, Houndoom Other Zubat's stats Golbat's stats Crobat's stats * At what point in the game should I be evolved? If the bat is scheduled to fight against Whitney, Golbat status is mandatory, and Crobat status is preferred. Zubat can hold its own quite well until then. It is important to have a Crobat around Cianwood for Eusine, in case of Crystal, but otherwise there is no rush evolving it; of course, this does not mean the evolution should necessarily be stalled, especially since there is no advantage whatsoever in keeping Golbat unevolved for longer than needed. * How good is the Zubat line in a Nuzlocke? It tends to lose steam towards the end of the game, mostly due to its low base power moves and not a huge variety to pick from, but it is decent from early on thanks to the good matchups, and an early Crobat does wonders against the first half of Johto. * Weaknesses: Rock, Electric, Psychic, Ice * Resistances: Poison, Fighting (x0.25), Bug (x0.25), Grass (x0.25) * Immunities: Ground * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Ghost, Steel, Fire, Water, Dragon, Dark Category:Gold/Silver/Crystal